Pump



PUMP

Filed April 12, 1940 q Mo-i 3nnentor Patented May 19, 1942 13 Claims. (ci. 103-96) This invention relate to turbine pumps. One object of the invention is the provision of a turbine pump which will operate efficiently withoutobjectionable noise or whine.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a turbine pump having blades operable along an annular raceway, the blades being rearwardly and outwardly inclined with respect to the direction of rotation, with the sides of the blades extending forwardly and laterally to lateral edge portions from which the fluid flows from the spaces between adjacent blades into the raceway of the pump.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a turbine pump having blades that incline out rearwardly to the direction of rotation and operate in a raceway which is provided with laterally extending inlet and discharge passages at the bottom of the pump casing.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a turbine pump having inlet and discharge passages at the bottom of the raceway and having blades that incline outwardly and rearwardly with respect to the direction of rotation so arranged as to provide a self-priming action.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description,

the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, in which two preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated,

Fig. 1 is a central vertical section through a turbine pump embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section showing a modifled form of the turbine in which all radial flow from the blade spaces i prevented; and

Fig, 4 is a side view of a portion of the impeller corresponding to Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in which the same reference numeral have been applied to corresponding parts in the different views, i and II designate mating end plates or walls of a pump casing, these walls being suitably bolted together and supported in any suitable manner. The two walls in and II are so formed as to provide an annular raceway l2 of substantially uniform cross sectional form except adjacent the inlet and outlet locations which, as herein shown, are arranged adjacent the bottom of the casing.

The pump casing is provided with suitable bearings l3 and I4 which rotatably carry the rotor shaft I5, the latter being adapted to be driven from any suitable source of power. Fixed on the shaft is the rotor or impeller i6, which is provided on opposite sides with annular lands ll having running fit with lands l8 on the housing, thus effectively separating the raceway l2 from the space E9 in which the inner portion of the rotor is arranged.

Liquid is supplied through a supply passage 2| in a supply conduit 22 which may be connected by suitable bolt to the casing wall H, the conduit 22 extending around the boss 23. of the casing and reaching up to a suitable level. This liquid enters the raceway I2 through the laterally extending passage 24 at the bottom of the casing walls and is carried around the raceway by the action of the impeller blades, as will be more fully described, leaving the raceway through the laterally extending discharge port 25, and flowing into a second conduit 26 which extends upwardly on the other side of the boss 23 to a suitable level near the top of the pump casing. The casing walls, between the inlet and discharge ports, are provided with inwardly extending portions 20 at opposite sides of the rotor which project into closely spaced relation to the sides of the blades and thus block oil the inlet side of the raceway from the outlet side. The casing walls, throughout an annular extent corresponding to the annular length of the inlet opening 24 and on the outer side of that opening are recessed as shown at 28, and a corresponding recess isprovidedoutwardly of the rotor throughout the annular length of the discharge passage 25, so that the opposite sides of the raceway will be in free communication with one another at the inlet, and will also be in free communication with one another at the outlet. The passages leading laterally from the raceway to the inlet and outlet passages in the conduits 22 and 26 extend out. to the radially outer portions of the recesses referred to.

The rotor has an annular series of impeller blades 21 so constructed and arranged with respect to the raceway as to produce an effective pumping action without the usual hum or whine of the ordinary turbine pump construction. The

tions of the blade throughout the effective annular length of the raceway. This spacing. between the peripheral portions of the blades and the portion of the casing. which surrounds it should not be subtantially more than one thirtysecond of an inch to give quiet action of the pump with the usual hum or whine of a turbine pump eliminated. The elimination of the whine also eliminates the water shock which produces it and thus increases the efllciency of operation.

The blades 2'! incline forwardly at a substantial angle to their lateral edges 29'. In a construction such as that illustrated in which the raceway is formed partly on one side of the rotor blades and partly on the other side, the blades incline forwardly from their center portions so as to have the appearance of a flattened V shape as viewed from the ends of the blades, as will be apparent from Fig. l. The blades are preferably rather long and rather large in number with the blade spacing being only a fractional part of an inch, thus providing efliciency in operation and the production of a large pumping pressure. At the base portions of the spaces between adjacent blades the rotor is fllleted as indicated at 30 to afford a smooth path of flow as the fluid moves from the inner portions of the raceway into the inner portions of the blade spaces and then travels outwardly, the fillets 30 directing this flow outwardly so that objectionable interference in the streams of liquid entering the spaces from opposite sides of the raceway is prevented, and an efllcient pumping action is obtained. With the bladesinclining out rearwardly to the direction of rotation and with their lateral portions inclining forwardly to the lateral edges, fluid is inducted into the inner portions of the blade spaces and, due to centrifugal action, the fluid received between adjacent blades tends to be thrown out peripherally, but in view of the very smallclearance provided throughoutthe blade width between the peripheral parts of the blades and the enclosing portion of the casing, the flow takes place in a lateral direction past the sides 29 of the blades back into the raceway during the rotation of the rotor. It has been found from actual construction that the pump operates quietly. As an example of a pump construction that has been tried and found to completely eliminate whine or hum of the pump, the rotor, which was driven at a speed of the order of 3000 R. P. M., was provided with 60 blades equally spaced on a rotor having a width of and with 4%" outside diameter, the blades inclining re'arwardly with respect to a radial direction at an angle of about 20 and shaped to have a flattened v formation in which the included angle between the blade sides was about 120.

Figs. 3 and 4 show a blade construction in which the radial flow out from the outer or tip portions of the blades is entirely eliminated by the provision of a shroud or ring connecting the outer parts of the blades. In this construction the same pump casing construction is employed and the rotor 32 is of the same construction as the rotor shown in Figs. 1 and 2 except that the blades 33 are connected at their peripheral portions by a shroud ring 34 having an outer cylindrical surface which operates with a running clearance of several ten thousandths of an inch in the pump casing. The inner side of the shroud ring is curved outwardly from the center portion to provide flllets 35 which may extend as far as desired toward or to the ends of the fillets 36. The fillets 35 provide a curved guide for the outwardly flowing liquid traveling in the spaces between adjacent blades, and the shroud ring, as will be apparent, causes all of the liquid circulating in the spaces between adjacent blades to leave the blades past their lateral edges as the liquid enters the raceway, providing efllcient as well as noiseless operation.

Due to the rearward outward inclination of the blades, with respect to the direction of rotation, in the blade arrangement and the inlet and outlet arrangement described in connection with Figs. 1 to 4, the pump will be self priming. Some liquid will always be present in the bottom of the pump raceway and as the empty blades dip rapidly into this liquid the liquid it encounters will be thrown into the spaces between adjacent blades so as to drive out the air or vapor. The

rearward inclination of the blades prevents the air or vapor from being trapped in the inner portions of the blade spaces and the air will therefore be gradually discharged into the outlet passage and a rapid priming operation will occur.

While the forms of apparatus herein described constitute preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise forms of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope or the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. A turbine pump comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating with the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and having an annular series of spaced blades operable along the raceway, said blades having a rearward outward inclination to the radial direction, the raceway extending laterally of the ,rotor from the blades so that a lateral discharge of fluid from the outer portions of the spaces between adjacent rotor blades into the raceway is produced, said blades having their outer portions spaced from the surrounding part of the casing a distance not exceeding 3 2 of an inch to prevent substantial flow of fluid radially outwards from the peripheral portions of the blades.

2. A turbine pump comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating with the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and having an annular series of spaced blades operable along the raceway, said blades having a rearward outward inclination to the radial direction and inclining laterally and forwardly to lateral edge portions which move along the raceway, said blades and casing being arranged to produce a lateral discharge of fluid from the outer portions of the spaces between adjacent rotor blades into the raceway and preventing substantial flow of fluid radially outwardly from the peripheral portions of the blades.

3. A turbine pump comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passage communicating with the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and having an annular series of spaced blades operable along the raceway, said blades inclining out rearwardly to the direction of rotation with the radially outer parts of the blades substantially enclosed to prevent free radial discharge from such outer parts of the blades into the raceway, the raceway extending laterally from opposite sides of the blades and having a. radial extent substantially equal tothe radial extent of the blades.

4. A turbine pump comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating laterally with the bottom portions of the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and having an annular series of spaced blades operable along the raceway, said blades inclining out rearwardly to the direction of rotation and with the side portions of the blades inclining forwardly and laterally towards the raceway.

5. A turbine pump comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating laterally with the bottom portions of the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and having an annular series of closely spaced blades operable along the raceway, the raceway extending laterally of the rotor and arranged opposite the sides of the blades, said blades inclining out rearwardly to the direction of rotation with the radially outer parts of the blades substantially enclosed to prevent free radial discharge from such outer parts of the blade into the raceway.

6. A turbine pump comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating laterally with the bottom portions of the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and having an annular series of spaced blades operable along the raceway, said blades inclining out rearwardly to the direction of rotation and with the side portions of the blades inclining forwardly and laterally towards the raceway, theradially outer parts of the blades being substantially enclosed to prevent substantial flow from such outer parts of the blades into the raceway.

7. A turbine pump capable of substantially noiseless operation, comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating with the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and having an annular series of closely spaced blades operable along the raceway and having a radial extent substantially equal to the radial depth 01' the raceway, said blades inclining out rearwardly to the direction of rotation and inclining forwardly to lateral edge portions which move along the raceway and past which substantially the entire flow from the spaces between adjacent blades into the raceway takes place.

8. A self-priming turbine pump capable of substantially noiseless operation, comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating laterally with the bottom portions of the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and having an annular series of closely spaced blades operable along the raceway, said raceway extending laterally from the sides of the blades, said blades inclining out rearwardly to the direction of rotation and inclining forwardly from the centers of the blades to lateral edge portions which move along the raceway and past which the principal flow from the spaces between adjacent blades takes place into the raceway.

9. A turbine pump capable of substantially noiseless operation, comprising a, casing forming an annular raceway and having supp y and discharge passages communicating with the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casingand having an annular series of closely spaced blades operable along the raceway, said blades inclining out rearwardly to the directiton of rotation and inclining forwardly from central portions thereof to lateral edge portions which move along the raceway, said blades having their radially outer portions spaced from the surrounding part of the casing a distance not substantially exceeding one thirtysecond of an inch.

10. A turbine pump capable of substantially noiseless operation, comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating with the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and having an annular series of closely spaced blades operable along the raceway, said blades having a rearward outward inclination to the radial direction and having their radially outer portions spaced from the surrounding part of the casing a disexposed at lateral sides thereof to the fluid in the raceway, the radial extent of the blades being substantially equal to the radial depth of the raceway, said blades having a rearward outward inclination of about 20 to the radial direction and inclining forwardly from the center of the blade to the outer edge portions, thebottom portions of the space between adjacent blades being filleted with outer portionsof suchspaces-"open from one side of the rotor to the]; tli *1 annular shroud filleted toward the blades and connecting the radial of the blades.

l2. A turbine pump comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating with the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and havi an annular series of spaced blades operable along the raceway, the raceway extending laterally from the sides of the blades, said blades inclining out rearwardly to the direction of rotation, and a shroud ring connecting the outer parts of the blades and having running clearance in the eas- 13. A turbine pump comprising a casing forming an annular raceway and having supply and discharge passages communicating with the raceway, a rotor mounted in the casing and havin an annular series of blades operable along the raceway, the raceway extending laterally from the sides of the blades, said blades having a, rearward outward inclination to the radial direction, the bottom portions of the spaces between adjacent blades being filleted and a shroud ring connecting the outer portions of the blades and having an annular flllet extending out to a lateral edge of the shroud ring.

FRANCIS E. BRADY, J's. 

